Denver Lutheran set to close its gym — the Lighthouse — after 43 years

Denver Lutheran opened its gym in 1968. This picture shows a ceremony at its opening.

When all the celebrations are over tonight — those celebrations marking all those moments through history — and the fans shuffle out, there will be a moment when the only person who remains is the one charged with the gym’s care. Tonight, that person will flip a switch that extinguishes the lights in Denver Lutheran’s Lighthouse for the last time.

The school, which is set to merge with Lutheran-Parker next fall, is holding the final two games in its gyms’ near 43-year history tonight. Both the girls (5:30 p.m. tip) and the boys (7 p.m.) squads will play CIVA Charter in the District Four playoffs.

“It’s kind of one of those bittersweet things,” said Rany Gager, who coaches the third-seeded girls (12-7). “We’ll try to make it as much of a celebration as possible, but it’s going to be kind of sad for many, many people. End-of-an-era kind of thing, I guess.”

It’s an era that started Feb. 24, 1968, the day the gym rocked. The Lighthouse had opened just in time to close 1968’s regular season against rival Denver Christian.

“At that time, there was absolutely no doubt about who was the rival,” said Ron Brandhorst, who in his 45 years at Denver Lutheran has taught chemistry, physics, history and English, and coached, among other things, football and track.

Officially, the gym’s capacity had been set at 1,100. They packed 1,300 in on opening night.

“We had people sitting down below the baskets along the wall, and in the stairwells,” said Brandhorst, who was at the game. “There were people every place. I’m sure we would have been in real trouble with the fire marshals.”

As the game wore on, Denver Christian carried an eight-point lead through the fourth quarter. Yet the Lighthouse rocked.

Things only got louder when the Lights closed the gap, forced overtime and pulled out a 58-56 win.

“That place was so loud the whole game,” Brandhorst said. “I mean every time someone made a shot, it was just — holy cow, it was loud. You can imagine, with more people than you’re supposed to have there — literally — it was just really loud and really neat.”

When it was built, “It was a place that was going to be packed, there’s no doubt about that,” Brandhorst said.

It’s still Brandhorst’s favorite memory of the gym.

“We’ve had a number of state championships, but that’s a whole season, and this was one night that was incredibly exciting,” he said.

Now, “Here we are 43 years later,” said Lutheran’s boys coach, Ryan Bredow, whose team is also a No. 3 seed and is 15-4 overall.

Brandhorst will be the honorary coach for the boys team tonight. Juls Clausen, who spent 14 seasons coaching the girls team at Lutheran who is now the CEO of the Colorado Lutheran High School Association, will be the honorary girls coach.

The school is planning to gather favorite Lighthouse memories to all in attendance on note cards tonight. After the game, each note card will be taped to a mural inside the gym that announces “You’re in the Lighthouse.”

“We’re just going to do everything we can to recognize a facility that’s just had some incredible games, and some great memories, for years,” Bredow said. “The basketball tradition at our school has been really strong for 40-some years. It’ll be cool to at least try to acknowledge that in some fashion.”

Gager said he won’t only miss the memories.

“I think it’s got kind of the tradition of the old, if you will, but it just has a great feel to it,” he said. “It’s well-lighted, the floor is a good floor, the rims are good. I mean the crowd is close to the floor, but yet it’s comfortable to the fans. We can open up the stage and even create more room for the fans. I just think it has a great character and a great to feel to it.

“It’s got good background for shooters, it’s got good, ample space for fans. They did a nice job back in the day, some 50 years ago when they were working on it.”

Nice piece on the last games to be played at Denver Lutheran’s “Lighthouse”, which has hosted plenty of spirited contests over the years, but witnessed an embarrassingly classless performance by the Lutheran teams on Tuesday night. The boys won by a score of 112-9, the girls won their game 73-9. The Lutheran coaches should be ashamed of themselves.

Lutheran has experienced plenty of success in basketball over the years, with notable boy’s coaches such as Loren Otte (over 300 wins, multiple state championships) and girl’s coaches such as Juls Clausen (over 300 wins, multiple state championships as well). And as current boy’s coach Ryan Bredow said, “The basketball tradition at our school has been really strong for 40-some years. It’ll be cool to at least try to acknowledge that in some fashion.” So I guess Bredow and girl’s coach Randy Gager decided that running out to 64-2 and 41-0 halftime leads, respectively, and then keeping the pressure on in the second half to really humiliate the opponents is what Lutheran fans over the years would feel was appropriate to, as Bredow wished, “recognize a facility that’s just had some incredible games, and some great memories”.

Not so cool. Horrible sportsmanship, actually. Too bad these last games can’t be scratched from the Lighthouse history books.

Dlhs Lights

I was in attendance at last night’s district playoff games. Your opinion of the DLHS coaches and program and your speculation about what occurred last night are incorrect.

They didn’t press. They didn’t play starters with the exception of the 1st quarter and part of the 3rd quarter. They played zone defense. Their fans cheered (and not mockingly) when they made baskets. CIVA’s coaches thanked the DLHS coaches after the game for “not running it up.” The DLHS coaches did not turn the game into an embarassment by stalling, turning it over on purpose, or acting like playing CIVA was “beneath them.” I believe the CIVA Charter kids should be appreciative of the class that the DLHS players showed and the sportsmanship that they displayed by not treating them as less than what they are – a high school basketball team playing the opening round of the district tournament. I know if I had been their coach, I would not have wanted the other team to treat my players with mocking pity or anything less than full effort.

High School Fan

Well, Mr. Lights, it is apparent that our opinions differ. Simply saying that your opponents “should be appreciative of the class the DLHS players showed and the sportsmanship that they displayed” because your team didn’t press and that they played a zone defense when ahead by such a margin doesn’t cut it. The Lutheran boys were up 64-2 at the half…and then ran to another 48 points on their significantly undermanned foe in the second half. 48 points in a half is a lot of points, certainly doable, but a lot of points in a half of a high school basketball game (the foot was still on the accelerator).

I think you’d be hard pressed to find many people who agree that giving a “full effort” – and thereby posting a 103-point win – is exactly what the opposing coach would want, because as you said, not doing so would have been treating his players “with mocking pity.” Moving the ball around on offense (i.e. 10-15 passes before a shot) and running some time off the clock during possessions, while at the same time not creating consistent turnovers on defense that result in uncontested layups against a lesser team are two well-known strategies when ahead by so many points. This does not send a message that one team is “beneath” another, but actually shows a sense of grace when a team is up by, say, 40 or 50 points. Not to mention when that team is up by 80 or 90. Similarly, regardless of whether or not the other coach thanked your coach for “not running it up”, if winning a game by a score of 112-9 (or by the combined boys and girls scores of 185-18!) is not piling on, then I don’t know what is. Nor do you.

High school sports are as much about teaching kids how to win and lose as they are about the importance of competition and effort and commitment. Winning with good taste has been a part of sports since the beginning of time, as has winning with no regard for an opponent. My opinion is that the Lutheran coaches unfortunately demonstrated the latter. Hopefully they will learn from it rather than try to defend it, as you have.

High School Fan

Nice piece on the last games to be played at Denver Lutheran’s “Lighthouse”, which has hosted plenty of spirited contests over the years, but witnessed an embarrassingly classless performance by the Lutheran teams on Tuesday night. The boys won by a score of 112-9, the girls won their game 73-9. The Lutheran coaches should be ashamed of themselves.

Lutheran has experienced plenty of success in basketball over the years, with notable boy’s coaches such as Loren Otte (over 300 wins, multiple state championships) and girl’s coaches such as Juls Clausen (over 300 wins, multiple state championships as well). And as current boy’s coach Ryan Bredow said, “The basketball tradition at our school has been really strong for 40-some years. It’ll be cool to at least try to acknowledge that in some fashion.” So I guess Bredow and girl’s coach Randy Gager decided that running out to 64-2 and 41-0 halftime leads, respectively, and then keeping the pressure on in the second half to really humiliate the opponents is what Lutheran fans over the years would feel was appropriate to, as Bredow wished, “recognize a facility that’s just had some incredible games, and some great memories”.

Not so cool. Horrible sportsmanship, actually. Too bad these last games can’t be scratched from the Lighthouse history books.

Dlhs Lights

I was in attendance at last night’s district playoff games. Your opinion of the DLHS coaches and program and your speculation about what occurred last night are incorrect.

They didn’t press. They didn’t play starters with the exception of the 1st quarter and part of the 3rd quarter. They played zone defense. Their fans cheered (and not mockingly) when they made baskets. CIVA’s coaches thanked the DLHS coaches after the game for “not running it up.” The DLHS coaches did not turn the game into an embarassment by stalling, turning it over on purpose, or acting like playing CIVA was “beneath them.” I believe the CIVA Charter kids should be appreciative of the class that the DLHS players showed and the sportsmanship that they displayed by not treating them as less than what they are – a high school basketball team playing the opening round of the district tournament. I know if I had been their coach, I would not have wanted the other team to treat my players with mocking pity or anything less than full effort.

High School Fan

Well, Mr. Lights, it is apparent that our opinions differ. Simply saying that your opponents “should be appreciative of the class the DLHS players showed and the sportsmanship that they displayed” because your team didn’t press and that they played a zone defense when ahead by such a margin doesn’t cut it. The Lutheran boys were up 64-2 at the half…and then ran to another 48 points on their significantly undermanned foe in the second half. 48 points in a half is a lot of points, certainly doable, but a lot of points in a half of a high school basketball game (the foot was still on the accelerator).

I think you’d be hard pressed to find many people who agree that giving a “full effort” – and thereby posting a 103-point win – is exactly what the opposing coach would want, because as you said, not doing so would have been treating his players “with mocking pity.” Moving the ball around on offense (i.e. 10-15 passes before a shot) and running some time off the clock during possessions, while at the same time not creating consistent turnovers on defense that result in uncontested layups against a lesser team are two well-known strategies when ahead by so many points. This does not send a message that one team is “beneath” another, but actually shows a sense of grace when a team is up by, say, 40 or 50 points. Not to mention when that team is up by 80 or 90. Similarly, regardless of whether or not the other coach thanked your coach for “not running it up”, if winning a game by a score of 112-9 (or by the combined boys and girls scores of 185-18!) is not piling on, then I don’t know what is. Nor do you.

High school sports are as much about teaching kids how to win and lose as they are about the importance of competition and effort and commitment. Winning with good taste has been a part of sports since the beginning of time, as has winning with no regard for an opponent. My opinion is that the Lutheran coaches unfortunately demonstrated the latter. Hopefully they will learn from it rather than try to defend it, as you have.

Madgame69

High School Fan should do the homework before turning in the assignment. This was a first round match up between one of the better teams in the state and one of the worst teams in the state…..on both accounts. It’s obvious your HS sports experience is pretty limited. It’s more embarassing to play against a far superior team and have them manipulate the game to the point where they are letting the other team score or not score. Yes it’s a shame CIVA wasn’t able to mount any type of challenge, but calling out the Lutheran coaches on something you so obviously know nothing about…….now that’s embarassing. Good luck to both Lutheran HS teams in their final CHSAA state playoffs.

High School Fan

Thanks Madgame69 (err, Coach), but these being first round playoff games makes no difference whatsoever. Class is class no matter what time of year it is. In the original story above, the Lutheran girl’s coach is quoted as saying about the last games to be played there, “We’ll try to make it as much of a celebration as possible, but its going to be kind of sad for many, many people.” He at least got that right — probably more so than he intended.

Madgame69

High School Fan should do the homework before turning in the assignment. This was a first round match up between one of the better teams in the state and one of the worst teams in the state…..on both accounts. It’s obvious your HS sports experience is pretty limited. It’s more embarassing to play against a far superior team and have them manipulate the game to the point where they are letting the other team score or not score. Yes it’s a shame CIVA wasn’t able to mount any type of challenge, but calling out the Lutheran coaches on something you so obviously know nothing about…….now that’s embarassing. Good luck to both Lutheran HS teams in their final CHSAA state playoffs.

High School Fan

Thanks Madgame69 (err, Coach), but these being first round playoff games makes no difference whatsoever. Class is class no matter what time of year it is. In the original story above, the Lutheran girl’s coach is quoted as saying about the last games to be played there, “We’ll try to make it as much of a celebration as possible, but its going to be kind of sad for many, many people.” He at least got that right — probably more so than he intended.

Outsider

I have no dog in this fight (no kid at either school). Therefore, I think I can be objective. There is absolutely no way to defend beating other teams by the margins that the Luteran teams did. No excuse.

I am guessing Dlhs lights has kids at Lutheran, so s/he feels the need to stand up for the school. Madgame69 either has a kid at Lutheran or just likes to argue, tossing in a little confused personal insult to his/her posting.

Get 100 people with basketball knowledge and experience together, show them the scores of those games, and ask their opinions. If more than 10 of them say it is OK to win 112-9 or even 73-9, then the terrorists have won.

Just because Dlhs Lights and Madgame69 don’t know how to win with grace and class does not mean scores like Lutheran’s are acceptable. Slow the ball down on offense, don’t try to steal on defense, play the kids who rarely get to play.

The position that there is no reasonable alternative to winning 112-9 or 73-9 simply lacks credibility.

Outsider

I have no dog in this fight (no kid at either school). Therefore, I think I can be objective. There is absolutely no way to defend beating other teams by the margins that the Luteran teams did. No excuse.

I am guessing Dlhs lights has kids at Lutheran, so s/he feels the need to stand up for the school. Madgame69 either has a kid at Lutheran or just likes to argue, tossing in a little confused personal insult to his/her posting.

Get 100 people with basketball knowledge and experience together, show them the scores of those games, and ask their opinions. If more than 10 of them say it is OK to win 112-9 or even 73-9, then the terrorists have won.

Just because Dlhs Lights and Madgame69 don’t know how to win with grace and class does not mean scores like Lutheran’s are acceptable. Slow the ball down on offense, don’t try to steal on defense, play the kids who rarely get to play.

The position that there is no reasonable alternative to winning 112-9 or 73-9 simply lacks credibility.

Mwoody12

Does there have to be a right and wrong here? These are kids. the natural inclination of the subs that were in the game was to play hard. What hasn’t been mentioned is that CIVA is a team that played 1A ball all year and did not win a game and because of enrollment and CHASSA rules had to to move up to 2A for the playoffs. Secondly, two of CIVA’s starters were declared academically inelidgable the day of the game and their starting center broke his nose getting on the bus to the game. I was there. It was a slaughter any way you put it. Lutheran’s girls could have beaten this team but blaming the kids for passing 10 times before they shot and playing hard is wrong. Class is in the eye of the beholder. When comparing how this game was played and transfering your kid to Highlands Ranch so he can get a shot at a state championship even though he does not start, shows no class in my opinion.

High School Fan

Mwoody, you are the first to bring kids into this discussion. The coaches are responsible in my book, not the players.

If you were aware that the opponent had not won a game all year playing a 1A schedule, and had a depleted roster to boot, I would presume the 2A Lutheran coach knew all this too. That is even more reason to prepare for an opportunity to teach your kids spotsmanship in a potentially one-sided affair. Instead, it appears they wanted to be included in the record books for largest margin of victory.

Good luck to the Denver Lutheran boys and girls, as it was pointed out that they are some of the better teams in the state. Hopefully their coaches will have learned something in their quest for superiority, and will share that with their kids during the exciting times of the state tournament.

Mwoody12

Does there have to be a right and wrong here? These are kids. the natural inclination of the subs that were in the game was to play hard. What hasn’t been mentioned is that CIVA is a team that played 1A ball all year and did not win a game and because of enrollment and CHASSA rules had to to move up to 2A for the playoffs. Secondly, two of CIVA’s starters were declared academically inelidgable the day of the game and their starting center broke his nose getting on the bus to the game. I was there. It was a slaughter any way you put it. Lutheran’s girls could have beaten this team but blaming the kids for passing 10 times before they shot and playing hard is wrong. Class is in the eye of the beholder. When comparing how this game was played and transfering your kid to Highlands Ranch so he can get a shot at a state championship even though he does not start, shows no class in my opinion.

High School Fan

Mwoody, you are the first to bring kids into this discussion. The coaches are responsible in my book, not the players.

If you were aware that the opponent had not won a game all year playing a 1A schedule, and had a depleted roster to boot, I would presume the 2A Lutheran coach knew all this too. That is even more reason to prepare for an opportunity to teach your kids spotsmanship in a potentially one-sided affair. Instead, it appears they wanted to be included in the record books for largest margin of victory.

Good luck to the Denver Lutheran boys and girls, as it was pointed out that they are some of the better teams in the state. Hopefully their coaches will have learned something in their quest for superiority, and will share that with their kids during the exciting times of the state tournament.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=761583777 Tyler Stibrich

112-9 is ridiculous, and stretches even the most liberal definition of sportsmanship no matter how you spin it. However, I think it is also important to really understand what else is going on here. The reason this is the last game in the Lighthouse, is because the Denver Lutheran is closing and merging with Lutheran Parker next year. I’m a Parker alum, and in the last couple of years, this has developed into a bitter rivalry. No love was lost between these sister schools. These teams are losing their identity in the worst way possible. I’m sure there was plenty of frustration that was given an opportunity to break out that night. Again, I don’t justify a 103 point win, but I believe DLHS needs some of the grace it forgot to show.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=761583777 Tyler Stibrich

112-9 is ridiculous, and stretches even the most liberal definition of sportsmanship no matter how you spin it. However, I think it is also important to really understand what else is going on here. The reason this is the last game in the Lighthouse, is because the Denver Lutheran is closing and merging with Lutheran Parker next year. I’m a Parker alum, and in the last couple of years, this has developed into a bitter rivalry. No love was lost between these sister schools. These teams are losing their identity in the worst way possible. I’m sure there was plenty of frustration that was given an opportunity to break out that night. Again, I don’t justify a 103 point win, but I believe DLHS needs some of the grace it forgot to show.

Neil Devlin, originally from the Philadelphia area, has covered high school sports in Colorado for more than 30 years, writing about the people, athletes and events that encompass the Rocky Mountain prep sports world.